(~es, ~ing, ~ed)
Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English.
1.
If you ~ something, you give an answer or provide an opinion which may not be true because you do not have definite knowledge about the matter concerned.
The suit was faultless: Wood ~ed that he was a very successful publisher or a banker...
You can only ~ at what mental suffering they endure...
Paula reached for her camera, ~ed distance and exposure, and shot two frames...
Guess what I did for the whole of the first week...
If she ~ed wrong, it meant twice as many meetings the following week.
VERB: V that, V at n/wh, V n, V wh, V adv
2.
If you ~ that something is the case, you correctly form the opinion that it is the case, although you do not have definite knowledge about it.
By now you will have ~ed that I’m back in Ireland...
He should have ~ed what would happen...
Someone might have ~ed our secret and passed it on.
VERB: V that, V wh, V n
3.
A ~ is an attempt to give an answer or provide an opinion which may not be true because you do not have definite knowledge about the matter concerned.
My ~ is that the chance that these vaccines will work is zero...
He’d taken her pulse and made a ~ at her blood pressure...
Well, we can hazard a ~ at the answer.
N-COUNT: oft N that, N at n, N as to n/wh
4.
If you say that something is anyone’s ~ or anybody’s ~, you mean that no-one can be certain about what is really true. (INFORMAL)
Just when this will happen is anyone’s ~...
PHRASE: v-link PHR
5.
You say at a ~ to indicate that what you are saying is only an estimate or what you believe to be true, rather than being a definite fact.
At a ~ he’s been dead for two days.
PHRASE: PHR with cl vagueness
6.
You say I ~ to show that you are slightly uncertain or reluctant about what you are saying. (mainly AM INFORMAL)
I ~ she thought that was pretty smart...
I ~ he’s right...
‘I think you’re being paranoid.’—‘Yeah. I ~ so.’
PHRASE: PHR with cl, PHR so/not vagueness
7.
If someone keeps you ~ing, they do not tell you what you want to know.
The author’s intention is to keep everyone ~ing until the bitter end...
PHRASE: V inflects
8.
You say ~ what to draw attention to something exciting, surprising, or interesting that you are about to say. (INFORMAL)
Guess what, I just got my first part in a movie.
CONVENTION